Order restricted preferences and majority rule

This paper develops the social choice foundations of a restriction that, in different guises, is utilized in a number of economic models; illuminates the key features of these models; and provides a specific class of applications. Order Restriction (on triples) is strictly weaker than Single Peakedness (or Single Cavedness) but strictly stronger than Sen's Value Restriction. It therefore guarantees quasi-transitivity of majority rule. This condition is most useful in models where there is a natural ordering of the individuals, not the alternatives. We show for a class of applications that1) it may be imposed through conditions with meaningful economic interpretations;2) imposing Single Peakedness weakens the usefulness of the models; 3) directly establishing Value Restriction is difficult and has not been done.I thank Bob Anderson for his help over a long period of time. I also thank the participants in many seminars at U.C. Berkeley. All remaining errors are my own.